linked to the deadly outbreak of meningitis throughout the country. most patients got sick after given contaminated steroid injections. the next are used in hardened eye surgery. so far now 233 people have become sick with the rare fungal disease. 15 have died. now the fda says anyone taking drugs made at the same compounding facility in massachusetts could be at risk. that's it for me. thanks for being with me. now to wolf blitzer in washington. wolf, to you. i am not going to exploit for political purposes my opponent's youth and inexperience. [ laughter ] >> is this the time to unleash our one-liners? >> that answer was about as clear as boston harbor. >> we are in the grip of a failed economic theory. and this decision better be about what kind of economic theory you want. >> i got to answer this. tony blair were going alone, it

denigrates an alliance to say we're going alone. you cannot leave. >> i don't understand how we ended up invading a country that had nothing to do with 9/11. >> announcer: this is cnn. happening now, last-minute preparations for debate night in america. will president barack obama show some fire and passion? and is governor mitt romney ready to be challenged? also, secretary of state hillary clinton talks to cnn about the deadly attack on benghazi saying and i'm quoting her now "i take responsibility." and in a rare interview about her family, the first lady talks about life in the white house and her husband's performance in the first debate. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room."

with only 21 days to go until the presidential election, we're counting down to debate night in america. both candidates are taking tonight very, very seriously. air force one arrived in new york just a few hours ago. president obama has spent the past few days in virginia. he's been concentrating on debate preparations. mitt romney flew in from massachusetts where he's been rehearsing. everything could hinge on the candidates' performance in tonight's debate town hall tile moderated by cnn's own candy crowley. our predebate coverage begins right now with cnn's national political correspondent jim acosta who's been following the romney campaign. jim. >> reporter: wolf, a top campaign advisor tells cnn mitt romney has been working on his town hall debate skills taking on not just a stand-in moderator but also mock questioners and practice session. but it's also worth noetding romney has done countless

campaign events in this type of town hall setting, but sometimes with mixed results. looking to put another crucial night in the debate win column, mitt romney is heading into his next face-off with president obama after days of intense preparations to gear for the evening town hall format, a romney advisor says the gop nominee has rehearsed with a roomful. officials are giving president obama the edge but note the republican contender has held over 100 town hall meetings. they expect romney to talk about the economy and what they call his bipartisan record governing massachusetts. advisors say romney also hopes to take on secretary of state hillary clinton's comments on the attack on the u.s. consulate in libya when she told cnn the buck stops with her. >> i take responsibility. >> reporter: an obvious opening for romney to say the buck should stop with the president. after two runs for the white house, romney has grown more comfortable in town hall settings. here kidding around with new jersey governor chris christie

last week in ohio. >> i'm going to turn to you for questions in just a few moments and let you ask any questions you'd like. and i'll answer some. and if they're real tough, i'll have chris answer them. >> reporter: but romney has also offered ammunition to his opponents. take this question on the president's health care law last january. >> what is your strategy to replace it with? how do we move forward to make health care once again affordable? >> reporter: when romney responded the consumer should have the ability to fire his insurance companies, his gop rivals pounced. >> it also means if you don't like what they do, you can fire them. i like being able to fire people that provide services to me. >> reporter: democrats are still talking about this romney town hall answer on college financial aid last march. >> if elected, what you would do with regards to college tuition whether making it easier for me and my classmates. >> the best thing i can do for you is to tell you to shop around and to compare tuition in different places. >> reporter: sometimes it's body language that's memorable. like the first president bush

looking at his watch in 1992. >> what's your position on issues. >> reporter: or the second ptd president bush's reaction in al gore coming too close. >> you know who voted for it? might never know that one. >> reporter: and too tough as when romney suggested the president was a traitor at this town hall in may. >> we have a president right now operating outside the structure of our constitution. and i want to know -- yeah, i do agree he should be tried for treason. >> i happen to believe the constitution was not just brilliant but probably inspired. >> reporter: now, as for that talk from the romney campaign that mitt romney would like to take on the issue of benghazi later on this evening, wolf, i do have a comment from an obama campaign official who said "romney's criticized the president, but given his track record of taking both sides on every major foreign policy issue

including u.s. intervention in libya, the imptous is on him to say what he would do differen y ly," wolf, sparks will fly tonight. >> they certainly will. jim acosta, thank you. president obama's first detach shifted the presidential race, the nationwide and swing state polls tightened dramatical dramatically. some showing him sliding into second place. he knows his presidency could be riding on a strong performance tonight. cnn white house correspondent brianna keilar is joining us now. she has some inside news on his debate preparations. bri brianna, what are you learning? >> reporter: wolf, president obama has began today like he has the last few. he had a workout and then met with his debate team for a 45-minute brush-up before heading here to long island. he's got some down time with some of his friends.

he's doing some last-minute debate prep and finish off the evening before the debate with a steak and potato dinner with the first lady. but the emphasis of his prep that's been underway intensely for the last few days has been working on his delivery. that's what campaign sources tell us because of that lackluster performance that we saw in denver. so tonight sources tell us we should be expecting to see a more assertive president obama but also an optimistic president obama. here's what robert gibbs, one of the campaign advisors, said this weekend. >> he also knew as he's watched the tape of that debate that he's got to be more energetic. >> reporter: president obama has watched tape of his denver performance multiple times to get an appreciation for what the audience saw and perhaps left wanting more from him. he has spent the last few days in intensive debate camp in williamsburg, virginia, on an inlet in the chesapeake bay kind of holed up in a resort there.

very structured very long days starting in the morning with workout and breakfast, he started debate prep around 10:00 a.m. in the morning. he'd be working through possible questions that he might get from town hall audience members and from our own candy crowley, the moderator of this debate. he'd break for lunch. he'd be back to debate prep coming back after dinner, wolf, for that mock debate each night a 90-minute debate essentially dress rehearsal. so finishing up the evening at 10:00, 10:30 at night, these are long 12-hour days, his aides know there's so much riding on tonight however downplaying the effect his performance in denver had on the polls. >> brian na, thanks to you. tonight's debate could have a huge effect on the electoral map. john king is watching that for us. what are you seeing, john? >> wolf, brianna might say the obama campaign is downplaying that impact, but the impact is obvious and dramatic. that's why going into debate number two, the question is we

know debate number one was a race changer. can the president make debate number two a race changer? why was it a race changer and why is the romney campaign optimistic? nevada, colorado, iowa, progress for romney since the first debate. new hampshire, progress for romney, virginia and north carolina, progress for romney. florida, progress for romney. look at all the states, wolf. they're all blue. these are all states the president carried back in 2008. but let's go back in time. that was a big democratic year. the argument inside the romney campaign is this is a more level playing field. neither party has a bigger advantage like the democrats had in 2008. so in a more normal year almost all of these states in 2004 except new hampshire, they voted republican. back to 2000 where al gore and george w. bush fought bitterly to the end iowa and new hampshire went republican, iowa went democratic. their argument, wolf, is if you take one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight stagt e

states they now have momentum in with three weeks left in the campaign, they can afford to lose a few. so their take going into this is if they can keep the momentum at their back, they will dra mat click improve their standing. this is the map that mattersed most, the electoral college map. the president has advantage, but with governor romney increasingly in better ground in these gold states, there's talk the president will have to play defense and romney may have opportunity in michigan and virginia. after this second debate we'll have a much better take of the true electoral battlefield. president obama needs to change the dynamic tonight. a lot of democrats are nervous. >> he needs to change. he can't wait for the third debate next monday. after the conventions when president obama was doing great in the polls and riding haul in battleground states for all practical purposes, republicans were complaining that the polls weren't fair, that they were biased against the republicans. now that the republicans are doing great, relatively speaking in the polls, they've come back.

are the democrats complaining about the methodology in these polls? >> no. they're not. the republicans i hope have learned their lessons. the pollsters 99 times out of 100 get it just about right. the democrats aren't complaining. they argue some states. saying our polls in ohio are better than your public polls in ohio. but they accept this dynamic. talk to smart democrats outside the campaign, stan greenberg, peter hart, they are issuing public warning signs for the president of the united states, wolf, because in that first debate he lost ground in the suburbs because people watched him and said i want someone to fight for my job. i want someone to fight for my community. he had no fight. that is the biggest advice from democrats outside the obama campaign that he better show up tonight and not just fight governor romney but prove to people he has a road map to get to a better economy in the next four years. >> good point. john will be with us throughout the night as well. even if the president is tougher tonight on mitt romney, there's another big challenge. will he draw a clear picture of where he intends to take the country if re-elected? [ man ] in hong kong, on my way to the board meeting...

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wouldn't it be great to have one less battery to worry about? car honking irping the 2012 sonata hybrid. the only hybrid with a lifetime hybrid battery warranty. from hyundai. in just a few hours before tonight's debate both candidates are surely feeling the pressure. because with just three weeks to go before the election, the race in some key battleground states is dramatically tightening right now. ron brownstein is joining us, he's outside the debate hall over at hoffstra university. i'm going to put a couple polls up on the screen and let's discuss what's going on. this is in pennsylvania right now. likely voters, the quinnipiac university poll right now obama in pennsylvania 50%, romney 46%. clearly close within the margin

of error, shall we say. and in new hampshire, look at this. new hampshire likely voters 47%, 47%, it's a tie in new hampshire. i put these two states up because a couple weeks ago the president was ahead in both of these states by double digits. so what's going on here? >> well, look, you're seeing across the board movement toward governor romney after that first debate that is sustaining itself. wolf, this looks like a genuine major kind of departure point in the campaign that president obama has to reverse. you can quibble about the results of any individual poll, you can quibble about the sample, we can talk about some of those issues in a minute, but the general trajectory is unmistakable. you're seeing erosion for the president pretty much across the board among wliets holding nonwhite support about the 80% level he had in 2008. but you see him losing ground not only among the blue collar whites but also the white collar whites, college-educated whites

where he did much bet ner 2008. >> a senior romney advisor told politico to move three points in pennsylvania is different than moving three points in new hampshire. what does that mean? >> well, pennsylvania's a state that president obama won by ten points. the democrats have an enormous registration advantage in and really personified the realignment of the white upper middle class that's made the northeast and west coast so much more favorable for democrats. those four suburban counties outside philadelphia in 2008 president obama won them by a come pined 2,000 votes. the state is essentially unwinnable for republicans. so i think for romney to be getting that close in pennsylvania, as i said, is a signal that the erosion the president's been seeing and see it in the national polls also is not only among those working class whites always skeptical of him but really across the board including those socially liberal upper middle class wliets more reliable democratic voters in the last several elections. >> how important for both of

these candidates tonight will it be to lay out specifics? not just goals, broad generalities, but specific proposals what they would do over the next four years? >> well, i think for the president job one overwhelmingly is to convey the sense that he has a plan that makes people's lives better over the next four years and that he's passionate about that plan. look at the focus groups as john king noted a few minutes ago that they've written about in the last few days, you saw the sense among voters that the president almost had run out of gas in that first debate. and that's what he was projecting that romney and the words of greenberg and carville identified himself as the voice of change. that's above all what the president has to alter tonight. he has to re-establish himself as an agent of change, someone who has an agenda he wants to pursue even while contrasting wh governor romney's agenda. >> given the nature of this debate tonight, town hall format, who has the advantage? >> well, look, i think in a town hall historically it's harder to do kind of negative mezageing.

but it's very possible to do the kind of, i'm on your side understanding regular people kind of messaging. and that has been something that has been critical to holding president obama's lead in the polls and even in september when he was as apex much of it was because he was way ahead of governor romney in both national and swing state polling on who cares about people like me, who would pursue an agenda that would be good for all americans. and i think, you know, the debate offers an opportunity to reclaim some of that ground. he allowed romney in that first debate to change his image with many of his swing voters. it's not clear you can put the genie back in the bottle. the opportunity for the president in the remaining debates may be more to improve his own image than undo the good romney did for himself in debate number one. >> ron is already there at the university out on long island getting ready for tonight's huge, huge debate. ron, we'll talk to you later. when the president takes stage in tonight's debate, what's michelle obama going to be focusing on? you're going to hear the answer

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a court has made a major decision about early voting in a key swing state. kate bolduan is monitoring that and some of the other top stories in "the situation room" right now. kate, what's going on? >> we're talking about ohio,

wolf. the key swing state of ohio chl the court there says early voting open has to be open to all voters. that's the supreme court today saying that. that blocks a law in ohio that would have allowed only military families to vote in the three days before election day. ohio democrats and the obama campaign challenged the law while the state's republican leaders asked the justices to allow the restrictions to take effect. polls show obama and mitt romney in pretty much a dead heat in ohio right now. also, cuba is making it easier for residents to travel outside the country. today cuba's official news site is reporting that the castro government is dropping two travel requirements, a travel permit and a letter of invitation. that could save travelers hundreds of dollars. but residents will need a valid passport, something not everyone is allowed. and social security benefits for nearly 62 million americans will be going up next year. the 1.7% cost of living increase means the average retiree will take in about $40 more each month. but for some that money will go

to higher medicare premiums. for workers, the adjustment also means more wages will be subject to social security tax. and it could be the sequel to the thomas crown affair, seven paintings were stolen from exhibition in the netherlands early this morning. police are blaming a burglar who they say was well prepared. the art is of considerable value by picasso, monet and others. they're part of a private collection being shown in public for the very first time. guess you've learned your lesson -- no, i'm just kidding. >> good movie. >> which one? 68 steve mcqueen? >> i saw all of them. how many were there? two, three. >> two. i'm not a movie magician. i don't know. >> it worked pretty good. >> i love the monet. >> i don't have one. you can get that for me for christmas. >> there may be one available pretty soon. be careful. don't buy it. something to look for in tonight's presidential debate.

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as you watch tonight's presidential debate, watch what both candidates try to do to make a strong pitch to women voters. to see why, take a look at this snapshot. >> women push romney into the lead. holy smokes. >> this is the usa today gallup poll finds obama and romney running virtually even among women, women, that is in 12 swing states. different picture here, look at the nationwide polls and obama is leading romney by seven points or more. >> the focus should be on what do women voters want?

>> abortion, contraception, child care, some of the issues that didn't come up in the first debate, will they come up tonight? >> let's go to gloria borger. she's got a special panel. >> i do, wolf. thanks so much. yes, it is all about women tonight, right, guys? i should say that. it's sort of like girls night out tonight because women are going to be the deciders in this election. my group that i'm looking at are really suburban married women, although single women have shifted to the romney camp. what do you think, ari? you're a republican. >> single women vote overwhelmingly democratic. >> uh-huh. >> but what's fascinating is there's a racial component to this as well. republicans win white women. george bush the two years he won, he won white women by 11 percentage points in 2004. one percentage point in 2000. the issue is compounded when you divide up hispanic and black and divide all women in america, that's where republicans lose. is it the appeal because the numbers are so overwhelmingly

against republicans in minority communities where republicans have a lot of work to do? or is it womens issues? i think the fact that republicans win white women is a very important and telling side because it shows it's not just a woman's issue. it cuts a lot deeper than that. and also with all women the fact is in 2010 when republicans had a massive sweep, there was no gender gap among all will of every background -- >> that's not going to happen this time. we know that. the polls are all over the place. >> this summer the democrats were up in the air with all the ads about the war on women. unless their internals were completely messed up, they were hitting this message relentlessly and it was showing up in the polls. it was working for them and they pivoted to another message and they have to pivot back in order to make up for the ground obama lost in the last debate. >> but why? why did he lose that? >> i think if you're in a situation thrks is just kind of basic. you have two guys up there, one

kind of acting like a wimp and -- >> strong words. >> those are strong words. but if that's the divide, i think people are going to want somebody who seems like a stronger leader even if they were a little obnoxious. i think what you're going to see now is who's the real guy. >> you're saying romney was obnoxious? >> i thought he did well for himself but really obnoxious and aggressive. to some women you would think that would be a turnoff. but the level of strength he was showing based on -- >> i take it you're not. >> i think you've got some women that are never going to vote for mitt romney. and some women will never vote for president obama. i think president obama had the governor on the ropes and he let him up because he didn't perform very well. he was flat footed. he didn't defend his position very well. and i think there are a lot of

women just like every other demographic out there. they were saying we want to fire this guy, but we're not comfortable with this guy. i think governor romney gave women a lot of demographics out there a comfort level -- >> it's the etch-a-sketch. romney was painted over the course of the summer as a villainous fill ygure. when romney stepped up in that debate, he looked very moderate and reasonable -- >> acceptable. >> he looked acceptable. >> he also gave -- >> nonthreatening. >> but again i think that plays to what i said. he gave people an opportunity to take another look at him. and they kind of -- >> a lot of voters, not all voters but including women, especially women, are disappointed in president obama. they saw someone that did not pass they thought president obama was. they were disappointed and add

it up -- >> didn't you see an economic plan though? women are economic voters. and didn't they see a plan from romney where they didn't see a plan from the president? >> i think that's been overstated. here's what i think was not brought up and should have been hit harder. romney does not support equal pay for equal work. when you have somebody who says i want my vice president to be somebody who supposedly led better who does not believe in equal pay for equal women, what kind of person is romney then going to put on the supreme court? he puts somebody to be his vice presidential nominee who says a woman should be forced to bare the child of her rapist. that is who romney has picked for his vice presidential nominee whochlt will he put on supreme court? that was not raised in the last debate. you have extreme anti-woman position on the ticket. >> not just social -- there's a strong that republicans always win married women. go back decades, married women vote has always gone republican.

single women vote is increasingly going democratic. the trick now is president obama's got to stop his slide with married women. and mitt romney's got to minimize his losses with single women. the economic debate comes into play. >> it's a common issue the economics through the social issues. if you looked at the democratic convention, there was an extent to which the what was it like the 8:00 to 9:00 hour was all about women's issues because that plays an important role in mobilizing their base. but it also has appeal with suburban women essential to the obama -- >> we're going to psychoanalyze these numbers until the day after the election. and then we'll make a living for the next two months telling everybody what happened. the fact is these numbers are real. the numbers are moving. and why are they moving?

the president didn't perform in the debate. he allowed the governor to come off the ropes. and now he's in the corner being defensive. the numbers are real. >> we're going to have to see more of that tonight. van, i think you need to come up with some newa adjectives to describe presidential candidates. i think you need to -- and we're going to be back in a minute with our unsolicited advice. i think a lot of it will be for these presidential candidates. so stay with us. i don't spend money

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and welcome back with our unsolicited advice.

let me go first to frank. what's your advice? >> i say enough passivity for barack obama but in a very specific way. when he looked weak and passive in the last debate, it looked like he didn't have a record to defend. it looked like the last for years were fornot. and the truth is the last four years he did a lot of impressive things and people are better off now than they were four years ago. he has to state that forthrightly or he will lose. >> do you think he has to attack? >> of course he has to attack and he especially has to defend when he's attacked. i think the town hall setting is bad for going on the offensive because you have to connect with the voters at the same time you have to deal with your opponent standing across the stage. the best thing he can do is make his own case in a very, very vigorous way. >> j.c. >> my unsolicited advice goes to governor romney and president obama. be ware, it doesn't matter who wins in november. in the washington redskins win nine football games, robert

griffin iii will be in the white house come january. >> i have nothing to say on that. honestly. >> tannehill, he'll be there. >> i'm still mourning my nats. >> my advice is to president obama. he should defend his clean energy record. i cannot believe these republicans who cheerlead every time an american energy company goes down. president obama's track record when it comes to clean energy investments is better than bain capital. bane capital had 80% success record. they say romney's a genius. in ohio alone there are 125,000 clean energy workers. if romney gets in there, those jobs are history. he should stick up for his clean energy record and be proud of it. if it were up to the republicans in the space race, the first rocket that didn't make it off the platform they'd said forget about it and let the russians go to the moon. he's got to stand up for his record. >> but in the last debate i

thought that romney actually was quite effective against the president on energy making it a question of teachers jobs turned it into sort of jobs, money we spent on energy companies versus how many teachers jobs those could have paid for? i would expect there's going to be more of the same of that. >> he's going to defend himself on that. he has a lot to be proud of. there are 3.4 million green jobs in america right now. nobody knows. he should be proud of that. >> my advice would be to mitt romney for the debate tonight. what he needs to do is take advantage of that big second look that he got from the first debate. not only is he getting a second look, he's getting a second look with benefits. people are really saying i can go for this guy. so he needs to connect with voters not only in a i can see you sitting behind the desk in the oval office, i want to see you at that december sglk how do you do that? >> when he gets asked an individual question about jobs, energy, the economy, he doesn't need to give a macro answer, on my first day in office, on my

second, third, here's what i need to do and explain individual. for example, if he gets asked about energy, he should say by opening the keystone pipeline i will create x number of jobs for a lot of blue collar workers, high paying jobs and things also here in new york make us energy independent. and that's something no matter where you are around the world you can relate to your cousin or brother getting a job and being free from middle east reliance. that individual tie from the macro policy connection. >> so what's the obama response? >> i thought the first day in office he was repealing obama care and a hundred other things he was saying in the primaries in order to appease the right. >> he's got a lot to do. >> i like what van's saying which is talk about the economics. talk about the stimulus and connect it to the economic patriotism and jobs that he has this record he can run on. people would be in much worse shape if he hadn't had that stimulus. i recommend the new book, if you

listen to this campaign, you wouldn't know any of it because obama hasn't talked about it. >> he said three and a half years to talk about those things. people are aware of what's happened over the last three and a half years. he's losing ground three weeks out. >> but it's very -- >> people said at hofstra four years ago at the debate he promised to create 5 million energy jobs, he's about 5 million short. >> we can go to north dakota, we can go to oklahoma, louisiana, alaska and we can see viable tangible visible real jobs. >> but here's the problem, it's very hard to run a campaign saying the things would have been worse if i hadn't been president. >> that's why i think he should say things are good now in places like ohio. >> well, ohio has a lower unemployment rate than a lot of other states. it's below the national average. so that might work in ohio, but

it's not going to work in other states. it's not going to work in florida for example. >> also in ohio don't forget president obama has the auto bailoutish shy probably working for him pretty good in ohio. >> yeah. >> but the energy issues work for mitt romney, coal, the whole corner of the state dependent on the coal economy which is creating jobs in youngstown, the first steel mill that opened in youngstown is now providing manufacturing for -- >> go to north dakota where they're drilling for oil down there and taco john's making $15 an hour, getting a $2,000 bonus at mcdonald's for new hires down in north dakota because what's happening in the fossil fuel space. those jobs are real. we don't have to talk about them. we see them. >> let me get in my unsolicited advice because we only have 30 seconds left it so it won't be long. i'm going to say to the candidates tonight, i know women are really important in this election, but try not to pander. just try talking about the economy, talking about issues women care about without saying

i love women, which is what we heard a lot of at the republican convention. which was role model night, it was women were role models for chris christie and everyone else. some of my best friends are women and i like thinking i'm a role model for my children too. there's nothing wrong with that. >> good luck, gloria. >> let's try to talk to women tonight without pandering to them. what do you think, wolf? >> i think that's excellent advice. go for it. terrific. let's see if they accept your advice. >> okay. >> guys, thank you. raising kids isn't the easiest job as all of us know, especially if you're doing it in the white house. so when it comes to discipline, who plays the heavy? the president of the united states or the first lady of the united states? her answer. that's next. ♪ reach one customer at a time? ♪ or help doctors turn billions of bytes of shared information... ♪

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when president obama and governor romney take to the debate stage in just a few hours, there will be at least one anxious person in the audience, that would be michelle obama. the first lady and her brother, craig, sat down with our chief white house correspondent jessica yellin, listen to this. >> you've watched him debate many times. what do you think are his debate strengths? >> you know, i have to say honestly because i am not a debate watcher and when you're there i'm just really, you know, i'm just so focused on it being over that i don't have much time to analyze. and i don't look at the tapes afterwards. so i really would probably be the worst person to assess his style or his techniques because it's just hard to pay attention to all that. there's so much that goes on at the debates. there are the rules and you don't want to clap.

so i'm just trying to make sure i'm following the rules. it's hard to really focus. >> jessica's joining us now live. jessica, you didn't just discuss the business of debating. you also spoke at length about the personal side of life in the white house. what did she have to say? >> reporter: that's right, wolf. well, you know, the first family famously makes a point of being home for their 6:30 dinner all together whenever they can. for example, the first lady has been campaigning consistently, but they all try to meet at the white house to sit down with the girls for that meal every night. so i asked a little bit about family life and about parenting. here's what she had to say. >> the president has called you the best mom in the world. >> that's very sweet. >> he says the girls are grounded and great. but no kid is perfect. >> no. >> so when the time calls for it, which one of you plays the heavy? >> you know, this is the thing i

like about barack. he's very good at reinforcing the rules and boundaries we set. we never get into that, but dad said. we're very good at not letting the kids play off of us. and barack and i really do share the same values when it comes to raising kids. it helps having a partner who believes in the same thing, respect, empathy, hard work, decency. we were constantly telling our kids that the most important thing they can be is good decent people who treat other people with kindness and respect. so that's kind of the, you know, that's the overall governing principle in our household. we don't stray too far from it. and i don't have to worry about, you know, barack not being, you know, a disciplinarian or me -- we balance each other out.

yeah. >> reporter: so i also in this interview, wolf, asked the first lady how they -- what it takes to get grounded when you're in the white house, when you're growing up in the white house. that's in more of my interview coming up later tonight. and then more serious questions about the campaign. i should point out that the first lady is going to be here with the president. she will have dinner with the president before the debate. we iunderstand it will be a dinner of steak and potatoes. >> by all accounts those girls, they are very, very grounded, the kids. no doubt about that. did you have an opportunity though, we've been hearing suggestions throughout the course of the day today that mrs. obama joined in some of these debate preparations over the past day or two. do we know that for a fact? >> reporter: i have never been given the indication that she is a participant in the debate preparations. i've been told that she tries to keep herself at a remove from

these things, wolf. >> i'm not sure she was actually participating in the debate preparations but was watching a little bit. that's what i heard. i don't know if that's true or not. we'll double check. we'll see if we can get confirmation of that if she watched. i know it's difficult for any spouse to watch a spouse participate in the actual debate. i just wondered if she watched some of the debate preparations. jessica, thanks very much. an important note to our viewers, stay tuned to cnn for special coverage of tonight's town hall debate. our own candy crowley will be moderating it. jessica will of course share more of her special interview with the first lady when our coverage begins right after "the situation room" 7:00 p.m. eastern. tonight's debate comes amid growing republican criticism of the president's handling of the september 11th benghazi attack. in our next hour the secretary of state hillary clinton takes the tough questions head on. >> i take responsibility. i'm in charge of the state department, 60,000 plus people

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at meineke i have options... like oil changes starting at $19.95. my money. my choice. my meineke. the investigation into the deadly meningitis outbreak is growing right now across the united states. as are the number of products potentially to blame. kate is back monitoring that and some of the other top stories in "the situation room" right now. what's the latest, kate? >> hey, wolf. at least 203 people have gotten sick and 15 have died after receiving steroid injections. but there are 200 other products in question. and that list is more than 70 pages long. the fda is urging anyone who used a product by the new england compounding center to be

vigilant for signs of meningitis. but the fda has not released the list of doctors and hospitals that received the center's products. also today, battery maker a 123 became at least the fifth company to receive millions in stimulus funds and then file for bankruptcy. the massachusetts based company makes lithium ion batteries used in cars, power grids and military equipment. the company says it will sell some of its assets to johnson controls, an auto parts company based in wisconsin. and finally, two cruise ship workers are accused of coming home with more than a kilo of cocaine. officers discovered the drugs during a routine crew inspection as these two 25-year-olds attempted to disembark in florida. one denied knowing anything about the drugs while the other admitted they were carrying them for a former crew member and had done it before. the name of the cruise ship incidentally allure of the seas. not such a good idea, wolf. >> not such a good name.

kate, thanks very much. and you're in "the situation room." happening now, looming over tonight's presidential debate the political uproar over the deadly assault on the u.s. consulate in libya. hillary clinton tells cnn she is responsible for security at u.s. diplomatic posts. will that put out the fire? the candidates have done all they can to get ready for their crucial rematch. we're taking a closer look at how both have prepared and what they might do differently. plus, he stayed out of sight for months, but he hasn't stayed out of the headlines. now we're hearing for the first time from congressman jesse jackson jr. we want to welcome our viewers from around the united states and the world. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room."

it's debate night in america and we're counting down to round two. cnn's coverage begins just in two hours from now. our own candy crowley will moderate this debate. with polls showing a very, very tight race right now, this showdown could be critical comes amid growing controversy over the obama administration's handling over the deadly attack on the u.s. consulate in benghazi, libya. the secretary of state hillary clinton now says flatly the security of u.s. diplomatic posts around the world is her responsibility. she spoke bluntly with cnn's foreign affairs reporter elise labott during her current visit to peru. >> reporter: secretary clinton, thank you so much for joining cnn c cnn. i want to talk a little bit about the benghazi attack, september 1 19, the evening of

this horrible day, you get a call that the consulate in benghazi was attacked and the ambassador has died. what goes through your head at that moment? >> well, elise, this was a many hour ordeal that we were all involved in. and i was deeply concerned as you would obviously assume to hear about an attack. >> on 9/11. >> on 9/11. an attack that was just overwhelming many armed men, numbers not clear, not only at our post but at our annex. and we couldn't find ambassador stevens. and we were trying desperately to figure out what had happened to him and to shaun smith and the others who were there. so it was an intense, you know, long ordeal for everybody at the state department and in libya. >> now, i know the investigation

is going to play itself out. >> right. >> but in the short-term, the state department officials and diplomatic security admit that requests for security were denied because they said that it was adequate based on the threat level. did you get that intelligence about the threat level? or was this a bad security decision? >> you know, elise, one of the things we're going to explore in the accountability review that i have ordered is exactly what happened. and what can we do to make sure that we learn lessons from it. nobody wants to get to the bottom of this more than i do. i knew chris stevens. i've had a chance to meet the families of the other three men who we lost. i take this very personally. so we're going to get to the bottom of it. and then we're going to do everything we can to work to prevent it from happening again. and then we're going to bring whoever did this to us to justice. >> i understand, but eastern libya, known to be a hub for extremist groups on 9/11 the

ambassador clearly didn't have enough security. >> well, i'm not going to reach any conclusions. obviously what happened that night was unprecedented. the waves of armed attackers that went on for hours. >> well, do you think you got wrong intelligence then? >> i'm not going to get into the blame game either about what we don't fully yet know from our own investigation. what i think is important is to make it clear that we were attacked. and what does that mean? that means that we have to do everything we possibly can to keep our people safe. at the same time we have to continue to be out in the world. that's a very difficult balance to make. and i'm trying to make that balance all the time because we can't retreat. we have to continue to lead. we have to be engaged. we can't hang out behind walls. chris stevens understood that

better than anybody. he believed in what he was doing in libya. and we want to do this right in his honor and the honor of all the men who were lost. >> you say you don't want to play a blame game, but certainly there's a blame game going on in washington. in fact, during the debate vice president biden said we didn't know. white house officials calling around saying, hey, this is a state department function. are they throwing you under the bus? >> of course not. i take responsibility. i'm in charge of the state department, 60,000 plus people all over the world, 275 posts. the president and the vice president certainly wouldn't be knowledgeable about specific decisions that are made by security professionals. they're the ones who weigh all of the threats and the risks and the needs and make a considered decision. >> intelligence community initially called it a protest. state department never did. you never did. the story has changed now. i mean, as you know, republicans

are charging that this was a cover-up. was it a rush to judgment? or was it bad intelligence as vice president biden suggests? >> you know, elise, i take a very different view of this. i have now for 20 years been very much in the administration decision making, first with my husband then after 9/11 working with president bush now of course on president obama's cabinet. in the wake of an attack like this in the fog of war, there's always going to be confusion. and i think it is absolutely fair to say that everyone had the same intelligence. everyone who spoke -- >> bad intelligence it seems then. >> well, everyone who spoke tried to give the information that they had. as time has gone on, the information has changed. we've gotten more detail. but that's not surprising. that always happens. and what i want to avoid is some kind of political gotcha or

blame game going on because that does a disservice to the thousands and thousands of americans not only in the state department and usaid but in the military who serve around the world. everyone wants to make sure they are as safe as possible but they are doing the job they were sent out to do. >> ambassador stevens' father this week said his death is being politicized. democrats are calling it a witch hunt. is that what's going on here? >> i'm not going to get into the political back and forth. i know we're very close to the election. i want to take a step back here and say from my own experience we are at our best as americans when we pull together. >> are you saying we're not doing that? >> with democratic presidents and republican presidents, i've seen it happen where people say, look, first and foremost we're americans. we lost four brave men. dozens more had to fight for their lives over a very long battle. they had to get evacuated because of the dangers that they

were facing. >> secretary clinton, thank you so much for joining us. >> thanks very much, elise. >> thank you. this programming note, more of elise's interview with the secretary of state will air later tonight during our 8:00 p.m. eastern hour. she is asked to give the president of the united states some advice on how he should prepare for tonight's debate. more of this interview with hillary clinton coming up here on cnn. did the secretary of state get the president off the hook by taking responsibility for security failures in the libya attack? paul begala and ari fleischer are standing by. and why this town hall format is so tricky for the candidates and what they've been doing to try to get ready for tonight's rematch. so, i'm happy. sales go up... i'm happy. it went out today... i'm happy. what if she's not home? (together) she won't be happy. use ups! she can get a text alert, reroute... even reschedule her package. it's ups my choice.

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so can the secretary of state hillary clinton put out the political fire on the atok over the u.s. consulate in libya? here's a sampling of some of the

controversy. >> i give secretary clinton credit for taking responsibility. i wish president obama and joe biden would also take responsibility. i think the administration has a lot to explain back on the day this story broke, they told misleading stories, confusing stories, contradictory stories, the reality almost every word they've said has been disproven. >> if you look at what mitt romney has done since the moment this thing happened is play politics with him. go back to the 47% tape, you know, he said he was looking for a foreign crisis to try to exploit during this campaign. >> it would be stunning to me for our national security team not to inform the president back in april and june. and it's stunning to me that the vice president denies any knowledge of the security situation in benghazi, libya. i find that almost impossible to believe. >> all right. let's discuss the political fallout from this in our strategy session. joining us our cnn contributors, the democratic strategist paul begala, he's the senior advisor

to priorities usa action, a pro-obama super pac as it's called. also the former bush white house press secretary ari fleischer. the secretary of state says she takes responsibility. what do you make of this? her role, has it quieted down? will the president be under less pressure because of what he said? >> he may be asked about and he should be, but i think the phrase stand-up gal was invented for women like hillary clinton. she said in a terrific interview she gave to elise, she knew ambassador stevens, the president knew ambassador stevens, this is not just another political issue. and there's no doubt that the information that our government, her state department put out at the beginning of this has now proved to be untrue. it's a huge leap though to say in the fog of war we didn't have all the facts to try to claim some kind of conspiracy. and i think it is mitt romney who has politicized this.

and i think that's to his detriment. it's bad for america, but it's bad for governor mitt romney. in a moment of crisis all americans pull together, there's legitimate questions of security of our officials in libya, but we all pull together to take on terrorists. >> you called her a stand-up gal. do you agree? >> what she did was noble. i do agree with that. separate the two issues, one is terrorism. and nobody should blame that on the obama administration. i blame it on the terrorists who carried out the attack. the second issue is the reaction the administration gave,ed explanation the american people got. that explanation seems to be tortured. it seems they had their own political interests vested saying result of video, result of the protest, why? they want to convey the impression after getting bin laden that terrorism was really well-handled by president obama. and they should not have been in a rush to brief the immediacy after the attack. they should have taken their

time and learned after the killing of bin laden where, again, political imperative they want to give the credit to the white house for it and briefed too quickly and facts changed there. my lesson having been through unfortunate episodes involving terrorism is you need to wait, pause, collect your breath. don't rush to explain. >> initial reports that you get from the front lines are usually wrong. >> they are. and they should have said that that first week. ambassador rice, terrific friend of mind, great representative for our country should have listened to ari. i've lived through this too. i was working in the embassies that were attacked. the initial reports are always wrong. in important ways, and you just never know what way. but that's a very different error than politicizing it the way mitt romney did. as soon as this attack occurred the first thing he did was put out a really craven and political statement, which is unworthy of his party and that's frankly a very different sin than briefing too soon.

ari's right about that. >> i think they had a political imperative to brief too soon. you can't just say only one side played politics here. the president's administration had an impression they wanted to prevent. that's why they went -- >> if romney had a do-over, i don't think he would have put out that statement. >> and what we're talking about is an original tweet that came out of the american embassy in egypt that basically said when they had news there was going to be a protest at the egyptian embassy that they said something about the video and basically apologized for the video. >> they didn't apologize. they blasted that video. >> well, and they were pretty much taking a pass americans have a right to free speech. it was a terrible statement our embassy in egypt put out and governor romney jumped all over that first statement. >> the statement changed the bigger facts. >> there's been reporting that the state reporter told him not to put out that statement in cairo. but also the statement even from the cairo embassy was very much the things that president bush used to say about free speech but about really disgraceful

attacks on the muslim faith. and i do think america, which has millions of faithful muslims, should stand up for protecting religious principles and not demeaning someone's religion. >> the u.s. ambassador to the united nations, susan rice, she's been silent basically for a month since that eleventh anniversary of 9/11. five days later she was on the sunday talk shows. she said what she said, but now she's given an interview to "the washington post" and among other things she said there was no attempt to pick and choose. she said "absolutely not. it was purely a function of what was provided to us." that's what she's now saying. what's wrong with that? >> because as we saw at the congressional hearing last week where state department security officials said it was no more than 24 hours had to do with an unruly mob or video, it was a pre-planned terrorist attack. there's a big disconnect in what information flowed where. >> that's what the intelligence community was telling her. that's what she repeated. >> that's why you need to have an investigation of this. that's why we should all catch our breath and let the

investigation take place. if it's found out that susan rice did have that information and chose to ignore it, it's a huge problem for susan rice. >> there's no reason to believe that. susan rice a very honorable public servant. we know mitt romney was playing politics. he put out a very craven statement. i dispute ari's political analysis. graham said the white house had incentive to downplay terrorism. the crass crude politics is at a time of terrorist attack we all rally around our president. so the truth is if they said it was terrorism, there's a lot of people thought the bush administration played politics with the threat level, not the attacks, but the color coded chart we had. >> all right. i suspect this will be an issue at the debate tonight. if it's not, i'm sure it will be monday night when the entire debate will be dedicated to foreign affairs, foreign policy. guys, thanks very much. you'll be with us throughout the night as well. mitt romney had a huge win in the first presidential

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mounting international outrage amongst the taliban after a 14-year-old pakistani girl was shot in the head for speaking out against them. kate bolduan's back monitor thag and some other top stories in "the situation room" right now. >> such a sad story. so many people have been following it day by day. malala yousufzai is fighting for

her life in a british hospital where doctors say they're very impressed by her strength and resilience. tight security is in place there. why? two people were stopped wanting to see the young activists but no arrests were made. meanwhile thousands of pakistanis are rallying for malala. the country's interior minister says her school will be named after her. we'll follow this. a federal appeals court is reversing the conviction of a former driver and bodyguard for osama bin laden. the opinion states "material support for terrorism was not a crime under the so-called military commissions act at the time of his alleged actions." the conviction can't stand. the driver was transferred from guantanamo to yemen custody and since been released. citi group bank ceo is stepping down after a five-year reign that began just before the 2008 economic crisis. citi group was ultimately one of the largest recipients of government bailout funding. the company's president resigned today as well.

we just checked and the stock did end up today. >> all right. we'll see what happens. thank you. widely viewed as the loser in the first debate, president obama has now gone all out preparing for this rematch. what's he likely to do differently tonight? people have doubts about taking aspirin for pain. but they haven't experienced

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president obama says he's feeling fabulous. but does he need a fabulous performance tonight to regain the momentum? our chief white house correspondent jessica yellin is over at the site of the debate in hemstead long island. this is a tricky format for the president to make a comeback. what are the potential pitfalls? >> reporter: hi, wolf. it is because the top priority for the president has to be responding to the questioners in the audience rather than making his own attacks against governor mitt romney. potential pitfalls i see there are three big ones.

one, he has a challenge keeping it brief. this is a man who once gave a 17-minute answer to a person who asked a question at a town hall. brevity is the soul of a good answer tonight for the president. number two, he could have a hard time making sure he doesn't overcorrect. can't be too aggressive. last time he was criticized for not being aggressive enough. and then there's the challenge of missing the mark both times. so viewers should watch for that. and then the third thing i'd say people should watch for is seeing if he makes it too much about mitt romney tonight. voters need a positive reason to vote for a candidate, even a president for re-election. and there's a lot of attack against romney. the president will have to listen to see if he makes a positive case why he's running for election and what he would do in a second term, wolf. >> what do we know about the president's day today? >> reporter: well, he woke up, he did debate prep in the morning. he did a little more debate prep in the afternoon after he came

here and did a little bit of a walk-through at hofstra, university. had a little down time with some friends and he's going to see the first lady this evening for dinner. we'll told they'll have steak and potatoes. she was out on the campaign trail today in north carolina. and she told voters on the trail she thinks her husband is handsome. but she married him because he has character. they will see each other for the first time in days before the debate. >> i'm sure they'll be nervous. they'll be sitting there in the front row watching all of this unfold. jessica, thanks so much for that. let's get more now on mitt romney's debate preparations. joining us now the senior campaign advisor for mitt romney, kevin madden. he's joining us from long island as well. kevin, thanks very much for coming in. >> great to be with you, wolf. thanks for having me. >> is your guy totally ready right now? >> he is, yeah. i mean, we've been looking forward to this opportunity any time you get a chance to talk directly to the voters about the issues that they care about,

it's a really important time for the campaign. so he's definitely looking forward to it. >> i had robert gibbs from the obama campaign here in "the situation room" yesterday. we spoke about some of the strategy. i want you to listen to this clip. and then we'll discuss. >> sure. >> i think the record of mitt romney we've laid out is a pretty good one. and i think we'll want to go back at it. i mean, look, as governor he was 47th in the country in job creation. as a candidate he proposes a $5 trillion tax plan that is going to result quite frankly in middle class families. >> how does mitt romney plan to respond? >> well, they've been making those points for a long time. i think what we've done is respond with the actual real record. governor romney came into office there was a huge deficit and he helped wipe away that deficit with real strong fiscal policy.

when governor romney came into office, the unemployment rate was about 5.6% and brought it down to 4.7%. that would be a record that if president obama had it he'd be running on. that would be a record that president obama would be bringing up in a debate and talking about that. instead he's indicated that what they're going to do is just go after governor romney and attack again. the reason governor romney did so well in the first debate and the reason he's been doing so well on the campaign trail is he's talking to voters about the issues that they care about. and he's offering a plan for the future. so i think any time that we get into where we have an opportunity in this debate to offer contrasting visions, to offer americans a clear choice, when governor romney has a chance to base that argument on the last four years we've seen, americans know we can't afford another four years like the last four years. he has a specific plan for what he wants to do to institute a real recovery, put america back to work, bring down our deficit and get america back on track.

i think he looks forward to that opportunity. >> are you concerned the president is going to come out swinging tonight? >> well, i think we've gotten every indication that he will from their campaign. i can only go on what robert gibbs and david axelrod and the president himself said. the president said he was too polite. i don't think it had anything to do with his level of politeness, i think it has to do with he doesn't have a record to run on. all the style points in the world are gont to help you when you have unemployment hovering around 8% and a $16 trillion deficit -- national debt that the president has run up with the last four years over $1 trillion in deficits every single year. that's the real record. and all the style points aren't going to help him. >> i'm sure the president is going to point out that mitt romney has a $5 trillion proposed tax cut but he doesn't explain how he's going to pay for that and make sure it doesn't increase the nation's deficit. the democrats, the obama campaign, put out a new web ad featuring the former president,

bill clinton, on this very specific point. i'll play it for you. >> he says we should deal with the debt by first of all cutting revenues by $5 trillion more. say how are you going to pay for that? well, we're going to pay for it by repealing all these tax exemptions, these loopholes. all the analysis shows if you get rid of all the home mortgage deduction and all the charitable deduction, you still won't close the debt hole. he still won't be closed. >> is mitt romney going to provide those specific details, how to pay for that tax cut? >> look, this is another reason why governor romney did so well in the first debate. when voters out there had an opportunity to compare the two candidates and their record on tax reform, governor romney came out ahead because he did lay out more specifics. all the president is telling you that he's going to do on tax reform is he's not going to reform. instead he's going to raise taxes on americans and in a way that's going to really hurt small business.

i think when governor romney talks about his tax reform, he's going to talk about lowering those rates, looking how he can win some of these deductions and grow the economy. that's how owe help institute the kind of small, business growth the kind of job growth we need in this country. you tax your way out of it, grow your way out of it or cut your way out. governor romney is talking about helping economic growth while finding efficiencies on the spending side so you're cutting waste and lowering rates. that's how you get the economy back on track, wolf. >> governor romney is also avoiding the specific details so many people want to know about. will they be able to deduct that home mortgage interest rates? will they be able to have charitable contributions? businesses want to know which tax credits will go away, which specific deductions will go away, exemptions, loopholes. they would like those details tonight presumably.

>> he has talked about those details and i expect he will do more of that tonight. that's one of the things he did in the last debate better than president obama. he offered for americans what he had as a plan going forward and how it's going to help the economy. there are deductions and principles that the governor has talked about for example with simpleson bolls that he would take a look at and work with congress to find common ground in order to find those cost savings so that when you reduce the rates and you help the economic growth that we have a much stronger economy as a result. >> because he told me last week he might put a cap on $25,000, $50,000 on some of those deductions, for example mortgage interest rates or charitable contributions, other deductions. that's the only specific points i've heard. but you're saying he's going to go further tonight? >> well, he's going to talk about those principles that he laid out and how it's going to help be a part of a broader tax reform. he has talked about some of those deductions. he has made the case also that middle class americans aren't going to lose any of their

deduction preferences. but instead we can look at ways there are many proposals out there, many of them included in some of the simpson bolls laid out about how you achieve some of these sliding scale deduction caps. those are things that as president that he would work with congress on in order to have a tax reform policy that's going to work for middle class americans and also going to get the american economy back to work. >> we're out of time. very quick question, very quick answer. you want to respond to what the secretary of state hillary clinton saying she takes responsibility for the way the benghazi killings were handled? >> well, look, i think many americans don't look for where the buck stops on an issue like that with the secretary of state. i think many americans would consider -- would think the buck stops with the president. i think the president ultimately bears responsibility for answering the questions that are still unanswered out there about what happened in benghazi, how we could have prevented it and what it says about our national security posture going forward. >> kevin madden from the romney campaign, thanks very much for

joining us. >> great to be with you, wolf. thanks for having me. >> thank you. and don't forget, cnn is the place to be for tonight. not only is our candy crowley moderating the debate, cnn brings you more information than any other network on tv and online, cnn.com. very cool technology, by the way, that lets you share your favorite moments. cnn's alex wellin explained it to brooke baldwin. >> so check this out. if i hit clip and share right off the home page, it grabs the moment that just happened. look, this is the moment and the moment inside the moment. >> alex wellen, get out of here. >> the team worked on this and i just hit share on facebook. >> what i love about watching these debates is i'm texting, i'm tweeting, and people are facebooking and did you see that moment when he said this? so now you can show them. >> you can show them the exact moment. >> very cool technology. indeed it's available right on the home page cnn.com. go there tonight. you'll be fascinated. our fact check teams will be watching closely during

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our expert team will no doubt be very busy tonight trying to determine when the candidates are or aren't telling the truth. we've also been looking closely at what they've been saying on the campaign trail. john berman is joining us right now with a reality check. good to have you here in washington. >> good to see you, wolf. let's start on trade. mitt romney argues the president hasn't initiated any new trade deals. >> for the last four years the president has signed no new

trade agreements, no new opportunities for america to sell goods outside our nation. we can compete. our farmers can compete. our manufacturers can compete with anyone in the world. but he hasn't opened up these markets for us. >> so what are the facts here? president obama did sign free trade deals with colombia, panama and south korea last year. however, work on these deals began under the bush administration. they were not passed until president obama renegotiated the deals with congress. so our verdict here is by the letter true, but really misleading. president obama has signed trade deals. romney is sneaking in the word new to narrow that definition. i want to move to the issue of taxes because both candidates like to seize the tax cutting mantle. at a rally on thursday the president claimed he has enacted serious cuts for the middle class. >> four years ago i promised to cut taxes for middle class families. and we have by $3,600.

>> let's look at the facts here. the math assumes a typical family making $50,000 a year, the $3,600 cut is over four years, not every year. and it includes a tax credit from the stimulus act that's no longer in effect, and payroll tax cuts that will expire later this year. so our verdict here is true, but with major qualifications. the tax cuts are over a four-year period and some of it's gone or will be gone soon, wolf. so you can see there's a lot of work within the facts here. truth is a relative word in some cases. >> very important. i love the fact checks. thanks for doing them, john. john will be with us of course throughout the night. when mitt romney takes the debate stage tonight, there's one thing we know he's sure to do.

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there's certainly no question family plays a major role in shaping the candidates. and i spoke about that recently with mitt romney. your wife, ann romney, she had a moving story she told our own gloria borger in a recent interview about your ritual as you go into a debate. let me play this little clip for you because i want to see your reaction. and i want to get your reaction on the other side. >> you know, it's a cute thing that he does almost after every answer. he finds me in the audience. as soon as he gets on stage the first thing he does is he takes

off his watch and puts it on the podium, but then he writes dad on the piece of paper. and that's amazing because he loves his dad, respects his dad, doesn't want to do anything that would not make his father proud. >> all of us who lost a father can relate. but give us a little addition. what do you think about that? >> well, you know, every debate she's right. i write my dad's name at the top of the piece of paper to remind myself all he sacrificed to give me the opportunities i now have. i think about his passion, his passion for the country. dad was devoted to ideals that motivated him. i mean, the guy was born in mexico with nothing when he came to this country, rose to be head of a car company, a governor. i mean, my dad was the real

deal. and his life and his memory inspires me. so, yeah, i write his name there. of course i look at ann every chance i get. she's usually looking down. she's a little nervous during the debates. but i look to her to see if she feels like i've done a good job. >> let's bring in our chief political analyst, gloria borger. that's a little comment we'll look forward to him maybe if he's got notes tonight writing his dad's name as well. but both of these candidates, they've had very different relationships with their respective fathers. >> yeah. i think mitt romney as you just heard idolized his father, is trying to live up to his father. if you were an armchair psychologist you would say he's trying to win the presidency his father never could win. i think with president obama as he's spoken about his father was absent in his life. and one thing he has done in his life is go out of his way to be a present father for his young

girls because his father was not present in his life. but two very -- two very different father figures, one of whom has compensated for the loss of a father and one of whom is trying to live up to it. >> how important is it for both of these candidates to show empathy tonight? >> very important. this is a town hall. this isn't just with a bunch of journalists here. these are people asking questions about their lives and about this economy and how this economy has affected their lives. so i think you do have to show an empathy for people's problems. when candidates don't show empathy in a town hall, that's an issue for them. i think when george w. bush looked at his watch and it seemed like he wanted it to be over, that doesn't work well. i think if you're a candidate, the problem you have is, which audience are you talking to? are you talking to the people in the hall? are you talking to the person who asked you the question? or are you talking to the voters? and you have to do a little bit

of each. and that's not easy. it's actually quite difficult and something i would presume they have to practice. >> the biggest challenge for mitt romney tonight? we know the president has a huge challenge to do what he failed to do in the first debate. what about romney? >> i think romney has to talk to those middle class voters who say he doesn't care about or understand my problems. by about a three to one or a two to one margin, the president does better than mitt romney on that. and it's very important, when you have an economy like this, that people believe you care about and understand their problems. this is a perfect environment in which to do that. and i think that's the bar that mitt romney has to sort of get above. >> i don't know about you, but i'm getting excited for this debate. it's going to be coming up in a couple three hours or so. thanks, gloria. thanks very much. he stayed out of sight for months. up next, congressman jesse jackson jr., he speaks. can orencia help? could your "i want" become "i can"? talk to your doctor.

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we want to invite dan jones to come back on to discuss some unfortunate comments he made in the last hour about governor romney. van, i know you want to say something. >> sure, i just wanted to say, listen, i wanted to apologize to you, to the cnn audience, and to governor romney himself. very poor choice of words and i regret it. i apologize. >> i know you do. i know you feel bad about it. i'm glad you apologized. thank you very much, van, for that. congressman jesse jr. has been battling what we've been told is bipolar position as rumors swirl about alleged misconduct in office. now we're hearing from him for the very first time, even if only briefly. cnn's brian todd has been working the story for us. what's going on? >> wolf, jackson happened to be on his front stoop here in

washington when he was approached by a reporter from the website, the daily. he did make a comment on his condition, but there are still present of other unanswered questions about a congressman who's been mia for months. he's on the ballot, but not on the campaign trail and not only job. the only place chicago voters are seeing democratic congressman jesse jackson jr. is in the headlines. headlines saying he is under federal investigation, according to the "chicago sun-times." >> this adds yet another legal, big legal headache for congressman jackson to face. and of course, this does come just before the election. >> reporter: "the wall street journal" reports the probe centers on whether jackson misused campaign money to decorate his home. the fbi declined to comment. this is separate from a previous investigation into whether jackson was part of the scandal involving former illinois governor, rod blagojevich. the house ethics committee looked into allegations that jackson or an associate offered to raise money for blagojevich in exchange for jackson being appointed to barack obama's vacant senate seat. jackson denied any wrongdoing.

another new headline, sitting on the stoop of his house with his father and a cigar on monday, jackson did his first interview in months. he told the website, the daily, he is not well and is going to doctor's appointments twice a day. he did not address the allegation that he misused campaign money. we saw no sign of jackson at his house in washington. jackson was treated for bipolar depression this summer, according to doctors at the mayo clinic. before recent appearances, he hadn't been seen in about four months, even though he was released from the clinic in september. a staff member at this bar, the beer bear and tavern in washington tells us that jackson was here on two consecutive nights recently, and that he was drinking. no one here would go on camera with us. for lynn sweet of the "chicago sun-times," that raises questions. if he's well enough to go out, i think the voters in chicago want to see him. >> reporter: sweet says even though he's not been on the campaign trail for several months, jackson is expected to win re-election. still -- >> all this adds up to a very,

very serious political problem for congressman jackson. so much so that even if he's re-elected, it will make it hard to see how, at this point, unless he does publicly show people he's up to the job, it does make people wonder, will he be able to be an effective member of the house of representatives? >> we tried several times to get jackson's congressional and campaign aides to comment, to comment on the reports of a financial investigation, on the interview outside of his home, and on the sighting of him at a bar, drinking here in washington. they would not comment on any of that. we also could not reach a lawyer for mr. jackson. wolf? >> do we have any idea when he might be getting back to work as a congressman or even campaigning? >> well, his wife, who is a chicago alderman said previously that he would probably surface in some capacity before election day. but according to the "sun-times," mrs. jackson said recently that he may not return before election day, so there's still a lot of mystery

surrounding him and what he's going to do, when he's going to come back, and how he's going to perform once he does. >> we wish him a speedy recovery. brian, thanks very much. >> sure. i am not going to exploit for political purposes my opponent's youth and inexperience. >> is this the time to unleash our one-liners. that answer was about as clear as boston harbor. >> we are in the grip of a failed economic theory. and this decision better be about what kind of economic theory you want. >> i got to answer this. tell tony blair we're going alone. it denigrates an alliance to say we're going alone, to discount their sacrifices. you cannot leave. >> i don't understand how we ended up invading a country that had nothing to do with 9/11. >> announcer: this is cnn. countdown to the second presidential debate. president obama and mitt romney facing off at a critical moment in this race for the white house. >> the stakes tonight, higher

than ever. mitt romney has the moment and the pressure is on the president. i'm anderson cooper. >> and i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." it's debate night in america. potentially pivotal skirmish in an election battle turned upsidedown over the last dozen days or so. >> it's been a remarkable dozen days. the last time they met, president obama held a slight advantage in the polls, but his lead evaporated in the days after that first face-off. and now the race is all tied up with mitt romney making critical gains nationally and also in crucial battleground states. >> cnn's candy crowley moderates tonight's debate, and the format includes questions from the audience. cnn's national political correspondent, jim acosta, is over at hofstra university on long island with the romney campaign. jim? >> reporter: wolf, romney campaign officials tell cnn the gop nominee would like to focus on the economy and libya tonight and they also say he has been brushing up on his town hall

debate skills, working not only with a stand-in moderator, but multiple questioners during his practice sessions, but this is a format that he's dealt with before. looking to put another crucial night in the debate win column, mitt romney is heading into his next face-off with president obama after days of intense preparations, to gear up for the evening's town hall format, a gop says the gop nominee has practiced with a roomful. they're giving president obama the edge, but note that the republican contender has held over 100 town hall meetings. they expect romney to talk about the economy and what they call his bipartisan record governin massachusetts. advisers say romney also hopes to take on secretary of state hillary clinton's comments on the attack on the u.s. consulate in libya, when she told cnn the buck stops with her. >> i take responsibility. >> reporter: an obvious opening for romney to say the buck should stop with the president. >> mitt romney! >> reporter: after two runs for

the white house, romney has grown more comfortable in town hall settings, here kidding around with new jersey governor, chris christie, last week in ohio. >> i'm going to turn to you for questions in just a few moments and let you ask any questions you'd like and i'll answer some, and if they're real tough, i'll have chris answer them. >> reporter: but romney has also offered ammunition to his opponents. take this question on the president's health care law last january. >> what is your strategy to replace it with? how do we move forward to make health care once again affordable? >> reporter: when romney responded that consumers should have the ability to fire their insurance companies, his gop rivals pounced. >> it also means if you don't like what they do, you can fire them. i like being able to fire people who provide services to me. >> reporter: democrats are still talking about this romney town hall answer on college financial aid last march. >> if elected, what would you do with regard to our college tuition, whether making it easier for me and my classmates. >> the best thing i can do for you is to tell you to shop around and compare -- compare

tuition in different places. >> sometimes it's body language that's memorable, like the first president bush looking at his watch in 1992. >> what's your position on issues? >> reporter: or the second president bush's reaction to al gore invading his space station in 2000. there are other risks in coming off as too tough. >> you know who voted for it? might never know. that one. >> reporter: and too soft, as romney did when a supporter suggested the president was a traitor at this town hall in may. >> we have a president right now that is operating outside the structure of our institution. and i want to know -- i want to know -- i want -- yeah, i do agree, he should be tried for treason. >> i happen to believe that the constitution was not just brilliant, but probably inspired. >> reporter: and even though we're hours from the debate, the spinning has already started in this room. ohio senator rob portman was in the room not too long ago,

calling his home state a dead heat between president obama and mitt romney, and i think the obama campaign was listening, rolf, because not too far behind senator portman was obama campaign manager jim messina. he walked into the room to say that any talk of a dead heat in ohio is a sign that the romney campaign is losing. it's also a sign that they're looking beyond tonight's debate and those battleground states to come. >> i'm already getting dizzy, thinking about all the spinning to come. for the viewers who may not appreciate the so-called spin room, explain what's going on there. >> reporter: well, it's one of those time-honored the traditions of debate. and if i can walk around a little bit, this caverns now room, if i could call it that here on the campus of hofstra university will be filled in about 4 1/2 hours from now, wolf, when the spinners come in from the various campaigns and start talking to us, the press. and as we've seen over the last couple of debates, not only the first debate between president obama and mitt romney, but that second debate between joe biden and paul ryan, sometimes it's

the debate after the debate, among those spinmeisters that can really shape the direction of this debate. >> reporter: jim acosta's going to be a busy guy. anderson cooper will be busy as well. good to have you here in "the situation room". >> good to be here. let's bring in senior congressional correspondent, dana bash. dana, you've been talking to people close to mitt romney. you've got some new information. how is he spending these few final hours before the debate? >> reporter: trying to rest and relax, as much as possible. you know, we talked before the first debate about how important it is for romney, personally, to be with his family. and that is certainly true today. we're told that five, all five of his grown sons are here, to be with him. two of them, josh and ben, are going to be in the debate hall, with ann romney to actually watch in person this town hall debate. and he did spend some time, i'm told by a source familiar with his preps, prepping today, not like in a formal way that he has

for the past 2 1/2 days, but he did spend some time reviewing. but for the most part, he wanted to have some relaxation time to get mentally prepared for this debate. >> there was a picture released of him and his wife watching a game of jenga being played. that seems stressful to me. because of his strong performance in the first debate, how does that play into his preparations for tonight? >> reporter: well, look, the romney campaign, they know that full well. romney himself knows that the expectations are even higher. they're trying to spin it as the big thing that happened in the last debate was that the president just didn't perform sop that is sort of playing into the debate prep, but for the most part, because this is a town hall debate, you saw some of the examples of this in jim acosta's piece, they've been spending most of the time focusing on style over substance.

making sure that governor romney is aware of how close he gets to a voter who asks a question. make sure he's not too close, so he's not in their grill, or too far, so he seems distant, the last thing he wants to do. i spoke with one of romney's former debate coaches, brett o'donnell, someone who coached john mccain and george w. bush for their town halls. listen to what he said. what do you think that hejo goi? >> i just think, staying fresh. you know, remembering what he did well in this debate and building on that. and then, also, making sure he understands now that he's in the town hall debate, it's a little bit different tenor. can't go on the offense quite as much. >> how does he maintain his cool when the president tries to get under his skin? >> well, i'm sure that senator portman has been exposing him to the things now that the president might do, in this next debate. and he's god to be prepared to keep his cool.

and part of that is mental focus. you know, not lapsing and really what i call taking the bait. >> reporter: and one interesting note on that. i've spoken to people who were involved in this debate prep, and they say that senator portman does tend to, playing the role of president obama, be very, very tough on mitt romney, but he didn't change very much from the last time, because they expected the president to be very aggressive and very direct and tough on the former governor, and he wasn't. so they basically prepared romney just like they did last time, except the difference is this time, they do expect the president to go after him much more aggressively. >> and i think i spoke to one of a romney debate coach a while ago, who was saying back when he had advised then, well, senator mccain, candidate mccain, they actually built kind of a model of the town hall debate place, where that town hall debate was going to take place. so i don't think they've done anything like that for governor romney, but they really have focused on body language and kind of how to interact with the

crowd and also pivot to the president. >> very, very much so. not only how he interacts with the voters. i'm told one of the things they focus on in debate prep is to remember that the president could be wandering around. he has to be aware of where the president's movements are. because it is such a free flowing event. you remember four years ago, talking about john mccain, he was so comfortable in the town hall format, because he had done it so many times in new hampshire, that he sort of forgot that this wasn't his own and he was wandering around, as the questions were being asked, just like he did in his own town halls, and that, you know, produced a lot of spoofs, including a "saturday night live" of him sort of wandering around saying, where's my dog? it didn't come across the way it used to. so those are the kind of things that you may not think that they're focusing on or they need to focus on, but they're absolutely critical, particularly in this kind of format. >> i forgot about that "saturday night live" skit. it was actually quite funny. dana, thanks so much. we also want to find out about

how president obama has been preparing, wolf. >> we certainly do. and one of the things both of these candidates n s need to remember, they will be on television even when they're not speaking. we'll see their faces on that split screen. they have to be very sensitive to that. so how is the president of the united states gearing up for this crucial contest tonight? we'll be gearing up for this with deputy campaign manager stephanie cutter, she's standing by. and more on tonight's different debate format. how questions were chosen for this town hall meeting.

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obama campaign attack ads came under attack today by the republican vice presidential nominee, paul ryan. let's talk about that and more with obama's deputy campaign manager, stephanie cutter. she's over at the scene of tonight's debate at hofstra university in new york. stephanie, thanks very much for coming in. >> thanks for having me. >> all right. let me play for you what paul ryan said today about the

message that the president will be delivering. listen to this. >> you have to understand, the only way the president thinks he can win is if he can convince you to really dislike mitt romney. and so he can win by default. it's all he's got, it's as cynical as it gets, and you're not going to fall for it, are you? >> all right. do you want to respond to the vice presidential nominee? >> well, you know, i think we are, you know, hours away from a debate. the president is going to lay out, you know, where we've been over the last four years, make a passionate case for what we've accomplished. but then lay out where he wants to take the country over the next four years. that's the case he's making for re-election. now, of course, we're running against mitt romney. it's not our job to make him unlikable. it's our job to make sure that his record is being accurately presented. and if it makes mitt romney unlikable because his policies outsource jobs overseas or that he opposed the auto bailout, then, you know, that's a

question for mitt romney to answer. but these are limit issues to discuss. so we're looking forward to having this conversation tonight. >> i suspect he's going to bring up the issue of the bankruptcy now, of another electric car company that received what, about $250 million in federal money, in federal grants, a-123 systems. andrea saul from the mitt romney campaign issued a statement, a-123's bankruptcy is yet another failure for president obama's disastrous strategy of gambling away billions of taxpayers dollars on a strategy of government-led growth that simply does not work." should the president accept some responsibility here? >> we want to cede these industries to india and china, and the president says, no, we're not. now, if mitt romney brings it up

in tonight's debate. he's got some things to answer for himself. one, his budget completely divests in clean energy. but, two, as massachusetts governor, he had some government investments in energy companies and they went bankrupt. so he has a record that he's going to have to explain. but at the end of the day, the president is not going to cede these industries to india and china. it has to do with america's energy independence and it has to do with creating good manufacturing jobs here in this country. >> on the sensitive issue of libya and benghazi, the killing of four americans, including the ambassador, secretary clinton in an interview with cnn now says she's taking responsibility for the way it's been handled. she stepped up. some people think she was earlier thrown under the bus. erick erickson, the conservative blogger, a cnn contributor, tweeted, he wrote today, he said on redstate.com, "i do hear that president obama will let hillary clinton tour a tire factory this week so she can at least match a dress to the tire tread, but one way or the other, hillary clinton is now going under the obama bus."

what did you think of hillary clinton's statement? >> well, first of all, wolf, you know, a tweet from erick erickson, you know, being the, you know, objective source that he is about this administration, doesn't make it true. now, the fact that secretary clinton said that she takes responsibility reflects what the president has said. we all take responsibility, from the president on down. whenever there's a diplomat's life at risk. whenever there's an american life at risk. but if you want to take responsibility, if you want to make sure that this never happens again, then you have the to do what the administration is doing. you have to investigate how it happened to ensure that it never happens again and you have to investigate and find the terrorists and bring them to justice. that's what the president, the vice president, secretary clinton, the entire national security team is doing. so i imagine this is going to be a topic tonight, and we look forward to having that discussion with mitt romney. >> i assume it's going to be a topic tonight as well. but what i hear you saying is the president is also taking

responsibility, not just the secretary of state? >> absolutely. he's the president of the united states. everybody takes responsibility when an american's life is at stake. >> there was a real surprising quote from a new york magazine. the head of the center for american progress, a liberal think tank here in washington, close to the white house, i'm going to read it to you, because it just jolted me when i read about it earlier in the day. people say the reason obama wouldn't call clinton is because he doesn't like him. the truth is, obama doesn't call anyone, and he's not close to almost anyone. it's stunning that he's in politics, because he really doesn't like people. now, neera as subsequently apologized for that. she said, i was trying to say how president obama, who i admire greatly, is a private person, but i deeply regret how i said. it apologize. but many people say that the president is aloof.

he's not schmoozing with members of congress enough. >> neera did apologize. she's a good friend of this administration. she has a lot to do with the fact that we have health care reform and millions of americans can now count on their health care. in terms of the president's personality, of course he's not aloof. he has worked across the aisle to get things done, whether it's the payroll tax cut, cutting spending by $1 trillion. at the end of the day, he's about results. and that's his number one priority. >> did she have a point in her initial statement, which obviously surprised a lot of us? >> well, i think that she clarified that, wolf. i think she said that what she was trying to get across is that he's a private person. >> he is a private person. he's also the president of the united states. and he's going to be in this debate tonight. when you're president of the united states, privacy for all practical matters seems to go away, as all of us know. you've worked for a few presidents, so you appreciate that as well. thanks very much, stephanie, for cutting in. >> thanks, wolf.

>> stephanie cutter joining us from the obama campaign. we heard from kevin madden from the romney campaign in the last hour. anderson? >> we've got new information, wolf, on mitt romney's preparation. this brand-new picture of him eating dinner with his wife and sons. much more on his debate strategy, still ahead. [ male announcer ] whether it's kevin's smartphone... ♪ ...mom's smartphone... dad's tablet... or lauren's smartphone... at&t has a plan built to help make families' lives easier. introducing at&t mobile share. one plan lets you share data on up to 10 devices with unlimited talk and text. add a tablet for only $10 per month. at&t.

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the courts have cleared the way for early voting for everyone in ohio. kate balduan is monitoring that

and some of the other top stories in "the situation room" right now. what's going on, kate? >> hey, there, wolf. ohio planned to offer early voting starting november 3rd to military members and their families, but state democrats backed by the obama campaign argued that everyone should be allowed to vote early. a federal appeals court agreed and today the supreme court justices declined to take up the case, letting that lower court ruling stand. also, speaking of military voters, they appear to be backing president obama two to one, judging by their campaign contributions. the center for responsive politics says president obama has received more than $530,000 from individual military donors while mitt romney has taken in $280,000. ron paul, by the way, received almost $400,000 from military donors. and things are about to get easier for cubans who want to travel abroad. the government says beginning in january, it will stop requiring an exit visa and a letter of invitation for cubans who want to travel outside the country.

fees for those documents cost hundreds of dollars, while the average cuban makes only about $20 a month. so good news for cubans wanting to travel. anderson, back to you. >> thanks very much. cnn's special coverage of our special debate starts at the top of the hour. and up next, it is not just what they say or how they say it, we'll take a look at the importance of body language in tonight's debate. we'll be right back. into a scooter that talks to the cloud? ♪ or turn 30-million artifacts... ♪ into a high-tech masterpiece? ♪ whatever your business challenge, dell has the technology and services to help you solve it.

it's not just what the candidates say that matters in tonight's presidential debate, it's also how they say it. body language plays a huge role in ow president obama and mitt romney come across. cnn's john berman got some expert advice for these candidates, so, john, what do they need to do? >> they need to do a lot. because particularly these town hall style debates, they are full-body experiences. we're talking face, we're talking hands, even feet. >> reporter: the first presidential debate was not so

much a master class in political science, public policy, or foreign relations. no, it was a seminar in high school anatomy. his mouth, his teeth, his face. >> if the volume was turned down on your television set, you would have thought that mitt romney was the president. >> reporter: janine driver is the president of the body language institute, and when it comes to body language, she says the president had a lot to say. most of it, not good. the look down. >> you could be seen as someone who's not trustworthy, you could be seen as someone who's holding something back, someone who is nervous, someone who is anxious. >> the smirk. >> something called contempt. he did a little bit of a smirk. one side of his mouth went up in and in. that's moral superiority. >> reporter: and one you may have not noticed is the leg cross. >> it comes across as not solid footing. he is not on solid ground. he does not have both feet on the ground. >> reporter: her advice for round two?

>> have both feet flat on the ground, chin up if that's your ching, and eye contact. >> reporter: also work the hands, what's called basketball hands. >> you'll see a lot of politicians do this. power, authority, and confidence. if we explode it, you'll get this basketball steeple and it's really bigger and bigger and bigger. so it will start here, and this is power, authority and confidence with likability and heart and passion. >> reporter: as for mitt romney, sure, he had a lot to be happy about, but he might want to wipe that smile off his face. at least a bit. >> the perma-smile. >> lose the perma-smile and listen to what's being said. feel what that feels like. if you're angry with what president obama is saying, i want to see anger on the brow. >> reporter: as both candidates know, the language of politics is often unspoken. and sometimes the best political punch is a body slam. and remember with the town meeting style debate, they will be in a well and you will be able to see their full bodies,

so there is that much more to worry about. now, anderson, i'll throw it over to you with basketball hands. >> basketball hands, thanks very much, and power and authority. we've got our whole panel here, contributors and analysts. david gergen, the fact there aren't podiums, it does present a whole new set of challenges. you can be seeing your whole body and you have to think about what you're doing while the other candidate is talking. >> that's absolutely true. here's what the situation is. they're going to in high-backed chairs and they can sit in the chair and answer the question or they can roam while they're answering. and that has both opportunities and perils. >> you don't want to roam too much, which john mccain was accused of doing. >> but the roaming gives you an opportunity, as bill clinton demonstrated, go up to the voter and have an almost electoral exchange, and almost empathetic exchange. but you can pay a price too. >> it's interesting, because for president obama, you do -- and both the candidates, you want to connect with the voter or the citizen who's asked you the

question, but at the same time, you need, especially president obama, needs to pivot also to attack mitt romney, doesn't he? >> well, that's exactly right. and it's that fact that there's human beings in there who are undecided voters and aren't like the typical political people, that means you have to soften everything you say. you cannot just be, bang, bang, bang. that's what voters are tired of. that's a test for both candidate. >> they're also kind of penned in. i think there are rules. it's sort of like the fence for your dog that you can't see. you know, you're not supposed to go outside a certain boundary, right? >> get a shock when you -- >> is one a cat, one a dog? >> no, but there is a boundary. you're not supposed to get in someone's face, the way al gore did -- >> but with that al gore thing, george bush had -- my understanding is he had actually prepared for that, during the debate thing, because people had watched other al gore debate, and al gore had done the move in. i'd read that. i don't know if either of you guys know about that.

>> well, if you're asking me, it's nothing that i recall from 2000. we knew al gore liked to kind of roam the stage and do that thing, but nobody anticipated he was going to try to cross the 50-yard-line and try to use physical intimidation. and bush just kind of gave him -- like that. >> the wink. >> it backfired. >> and then that awkward smile of al gore's. >> it actually is something that they'd gone over in debate prep for that, because gore had tried to kind of occupy his opponents' space before in debates, but it's amazing how natural all of us are in these situations, until we start thinking about being natural. >> right. >> and that's the hardest part, working with a candidate, to prepare for something like this. if you want to go through all the prep and all the technique early, so that the days before the debate, they're not thinking process, they're not thinking technique, they're thinking substance, they're thinking about connecting. >> who would you guys rather be going into tonight's debate? president obama or mitt romney? >> i would rather be obama. for one thing, you know, it's interesting how we kind of talk about this as sort of like

almost theater. and the reality is, i think, you know, mitt romney kind of did his own town hall meeting on videotape before. and we made the 47% comment. and i think that is sort of the backdrop for mitt romney. if there's more pressure on him now to be relatable. whereas i think obama actually is relatable. >> but you say that's the backdrop for mitt romney. maybe in some democrats' minds. but i think for the 60 million people who watched the last presidential debate, that's probably more in their mind, that mitt romney, than what was in that video from a long time ago. >> you know, i think the last debate was all about mitt romney. the expectations were on him. you know, people didn't think he would do particularly well. the whole game was riding on his performance. people were saying, if he doesn't do well, it's over. this time it's all about president obama. it's all about his performance. he needs to come in there with the sun on his face, to optimistically talk to the country. not against mitt romney so much, but fighting for the middle class and the american public. and we'll see if he rises to the occasion, as mitt romney did ten days ago. >> i think there's more pressure

on president obama this time. however, when you're playing for the presidency of the free world, i think there's a moderate amount of pressure on anybody. >> probably a dumb question. we've got to take a quick break. we've seen how much impact debate can have. ahead, we've got new details on the president's plan of attack tonight after the debate. we'll be right back. (train horn) vo: wherever our trains go, the economy comes to life. norfolk southern. one line, infinite possibilities.

getting ready for debate night in america. it is going to be a fascinating night of politics here. the pressure is really on. david gergen, the question i asked before, who would you rather be, president obama or mitt romney? >> president obama. i say that because i think this is -- van said this is almost theater. it's not almost theater, it is theater. franklin roosevelt once met orrsen welles and said, orsen,

you and i are the two best actors in the country. but the advantage often goes to the person who has more natural empathy and can talk to people easily. and while both romney and the president are sort of remote figures, they're more introverted, i think president obama is more naturally comfortable talking to people and understanding their stories. he's worked with a lot of middle class americans. he's worked with poor americans. he knows that. and i think that does give him a leg up. where mitt romney has done this as well, and he's done a lot of town halls, but i think barack obama is a little closer to the clinton model. >> if president obama does not do well tonight, i mean, we've seen the polls -- i mean, have you ever seen a poll shift like this, based on an early debate performance? >> reagan/carter. >> well, this is the romney opportunity. this is where mitt romney can really get rolling and take the first two games of a playoff in the three-game series. and if he does that --

>> i'm nodding like i know what you're talking about. sports analogies are way over my head. but keep going. >> i'm sure it'll make sense. >> but that's his chance tonight. he went from before the first debate, being, i need a second look, to now people saying, i can see you in the oval office. if he tonight says, i want you in the oval office, it's a huge night. that's his opportunity. >> i think it's a base issue for the democrats too, because the democratic base was so dispirited after the last debate. why should i fight for you when you're not fighting for yourself was the question that was being asked. tonight if they don't see that passion, if they don't see that fight, it will be a problem for democrats, particularly when they want to get their base enthusiasm up, get them out to the polls voting. that's an issue. so i think there's a lot riding on this. >> there was an interesting thing i read just the other day. i think it was from stan greenberg, a pollster saying that mitt romney did so well because people saw him as the change candidate. do you think that's true? at that debate.

at the first debate. >> i think it is true. i think that he came and presented a message that people hadn't heard before from him, which is maybe a bit of a problem tonight, but when you're the president, you have to defend your record and you have to try to paint a vision for the future. president obama did some of the former, but didn't do much of the latter. and that was a problem for him, whereas governor romney could run against everything the president had done and said, and therefore ergo, become the change candidate. >> president obama has spent quite a few months and many millions of dollars telling us that there's this mitt romney out there, who had horns and a tail and would eat your children, and that wasn't the guy who showed up. it was in fact a very reasonable republican. so i think that's one of the things that helped mitt romney a lot. but also, we shouldn't underestimate mitt romney tonight. this is not only a guy who has, yes, he's a intellectual elite against financial elite tonight, but this is also a man who has gone into a lot of people's homes over the years, out of sight, helping people who are sick, helping people who have

had financial troubles. he's been one on one with a lot of folks who have been in need and had a lot of problems. if you see him on the campaign trail lately, he's telling a lot of stories about the people who have affected him in this campaign. i think we're going to see that tonight. >> for me, i think that you can see the opposite mistake. i think obama last time was preparing to debate the mitt romney who was debating republicans. he wasn't prepared to debate the mitt romney who debates democrats. it was a totally different mitt romney. you can see the same thing happen again, where romney thinks that the guy he met last time is the guy he's going to meet this time. and i think you're going to see a very different president obama. i think he's very competitive -- >> it sounds like the romney campaign has been preparing for that in their debate preparation. we'll have more with our panel after a short break. >> yes, we will. please be sure to stay with sunscreen for complete special coverage of tonight's town hall presidential debate, moderated by our own candy crowley. our special coverage begins right here in a few minutes, 7:00 p.m. eastern. but first, uncommitted

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a live picture of the debate hall, the rematch. this is where it will take place in a little while. we're counting down to tonight's second presidential debate between president obama and mitt romney. tonight's contest at new york's

hofstra university is a very different setup from the previous face-off. our white house correspondent dan lothian is on the scene for us. all right, dan, what can we expect tonight? >> well, it's going to be a different kind of debate, wolf. as you know, in other debates like the last one, the moderator is asking all the questions. this time, it's a town hall format, so you could get that unexpected, unknown kind of funny question from an uncommitted voter. these are voters who either have no preference at all or have a preference, but could be swayed. president obama -- >> i feel fabulous! >> reporter: and gop nominee mitt romney will take center court at hofstra university's basketball arena. but the audience will be driving this town hall-style debate. >> look around in a semicircle will be 80 individuals from long island, who live around the campus here in hofstra, who say they haven't made their mind up yet, and while they have made their mind up yet, they may be

willing to change, depending on what the campaign says. >> reporter: they've already submitted their questions, each written on two separate note cards. one they keep, the other goes to the moderator, who divides them into two stacks. foreign policy and domestic issues. then decides which ones make the cut. 15 to 20 are expected to be asked. the uncommitted voters were tracked down by the gallup organization, which has been selecting audiencie ins for presidential town hall style debates since 1992. it all begins with a random phone call. >> the respondent doesn't know why we're calling. they think it's just the normal gallup polls. and then if they qualify, that's when our interviewers say, we would like to invite you to participate in the debate. >> reporter: where are they now? you won't find them walking around out here. they're being kept away from the public and the press, sequestered like a jury. they began their day with closed-door meetings at an undisclosed, off-campus location, followed by a walk-through here at the debate hall. cnn has learned they're now being kept in ta room in the bak

until showtime. despite protests from both campaigns, debate moderator cnn candy crowley will have the option on following up on questions from the audience. >> if the town hall question is about apples and the answer is about oranges, seems to me as a journalist and certainly as a moderator and within that purview is, wait a second, that was -- she asked apples and you answered oranges, let's try this again. >> reporter: this format also gives the candidates the freedom to get out of their chairs and move around. that means the they're more exposed to body language flubs and have to avoid invading personal space like al gore did to president george w. bush 12 years ago. but frank newport says town halls are as real as it gets. >> they're going to actually have human beings, right? not journalists -- not that journalists are the human beings, but we're having average voters who are going to come up and ask questions. because i think those are the people who are going to be voting. and why not? >> reporter: now, newport says

that the process of vetting these participants, getting them ready for debate night has gotten much more complicated. he says when they first got started back in the '90s, these folks didn't show up here until about 5:00, just a few hours before the debate started. wolf? >> dan lothian on the scene for us. thank you. if you live state, let's say ohio or florida, you're probably being unin dated with political ads as election day approaches. let's bring in our chief national correspondent john king at the magic wall. these ads in these states, what do they tell us about the race? >> there's a lot of this back and forth you'll hear in the debate tonight. you're already seeing play out in the ads where campaigns are adjusting. big poll showing a disappearing of the so-called gender gap. the obama campaign disputes that. other polls show a bit of an obama advantage when it comes to women voters, but the campaign clearly has seen this coming. look at this ad in jacksonville, florida, gets off the economy and makes this appeal. >> as you're making you're decision, maybe you're wondering what to believe about mitt romney. well, when it comes to

protecting your access to birth control and the basic health care services planned parenthood provides, one thing we must remember is this -- >> i'll cut off funding to planned parenthood. >> he'll cut it off. >> a clear effort there by the obama campaign to try to restore its standing among especially suburban women in florida and other states. governor romney has focused mostly on independents and the economy, trying to convince people, and he will do this tonight at hofstra, president barack obama made a lot of promises four years ago and hasn't kept them. >> four years ago, barack obama was concerned about america's economy. >> wages are flat, prices are rising, more and more americans are meyered in debt. our economy as a whole suffers. >> but under president barack obama, 8.6 unemployment, record foreclosures. 600,000 more floridans in profit. he focused on obamacare instead of jobs. that's part of the debate playing in florida. want to move you to the state of ohio. another thing you'll see, especially a point-counter point, youngstown, blue collar,

coal country, steel country, governor romney went on the attack early. >> obama is ruining the coal industry. >> policies that the current administration has got is attacking my livelihood. >> they're wanting to close these mines down. i've got little ones at home, a wife that needs me. >> we have 250 years of coal, why would wouldn't we use it? utility bills -- >> governor romney runs that ad, it begins to work. blue collar areas over here, the obama campaign, counter point. >> see these new ads where mitt romney says he's a friend of coal country? this is the guy who wants to keep tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas. the same guy who had a swiss bank account and millions in tax havens like bermuda and the caymans and on coal? here's what he said as governor outside a coal-fired power plant. >> i will not create jobs or hold jobs that kill people. and that plant killed people.

>> you see there wolf, the aggressive point-counter point. millions and millions and millions being spent now, mostly in eight or nine states. fascinating to watch. three weeks left in this campaign. the president needs a strong debate performance tonight but time is short to pick the theme of your ads. we have three weeks of back and forth but the campaigns have to make some pretty consequential decisions about where to spend their money and make some of those decisions very quickly and also what to say. >> it's clear they have tons of money. it seems almost kwanlt a few years ago when we were talking about public financing of these campaigns. there are some suggestions the obama campaign may wind up with more than $1 billion raised money. doesn't even include the super pacs. >> it's on a trend to spend $1 billion, and given the fact that governor romney has momentum right now, i don't think there is any reason to believe they won't pass that number. governor romney plenty of money too. and you mentioned the super pacs. one of the pieces, the chess game -- romney has momentum we'll talk more later in a lot of swing states. before the first debate, we were saying in the president's favor.

the campaigns have to make tough decisions. 2004, john kerry pulls out of ohio, loses an election, second thoughts. >> and wound up with money in the bank he should have spent, probably. if he would have spent in ohio might have been president of the united states. thanks very much. debate night in america straight ahead. we have an exclusive interview. in fact, we have exclusive interviews with the first lady of the united states, michelle obama, and ann romney. and fresh reporting on president obama's plan of attack, and mitt romney's defense. hand-carved onf a cliff is the guoliang tunnel. what?! you've got to be kidding me. [ derek ] i've never seen a road like this. there's jagged rock all the way around. this is really gonna test the ats on all levels. [ derek ] this road is the most uneven surface, and it gets very narrow. magnetic ride control is going to be working hard. the shock absorbers react to the road 1,000 times a second. it keeps you firmly in control. whoa! [ male announcer ] the all-new cadillac ats.

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like what the market is doing and being ready, no matter what happens, which isn't rocket science. it's just common sense, from td ameritrade. the presidential election is getting a little risque. here is jeanne moos. >> reporter: a few weeks until

the election and the clothes are coming off. if you don't trust me -- ♪ . i'm called obama. >> reporter: the most nakedgression comes from a progressive group attacking mitt romney over issues such as abortion. >> if you don't trust me with my body, why should i trust you with my country? >> reporter: and speaking of bodies -- ♪ let's get physical >> reporter: olivia newton john's old song has been turned into -- ♪ let's get fiscal fiscal >> reporter: instead of obama girl from four years ago -- ♪ because i got a crush on obama ♪ >> reporter: it's paul ryan girl lip syncing. ♪ let me see those baby blues ♪ let me see those baby blues >> reporter: meredith walker is definitely mocking obama girl. the girl in paul ryan girl really is a ryan/romney supporter. she says ever since she was 12, she wanted to be ann coulter when she grew up. >> at least when right-wingers

rant, there is a point. the director of the video -- >> encouraged me to be goofy and go "saturday night live." ♪ let's get fiscal >> reporter: from fiscal to frisk -- owe. ♪ uncle obama >> hold it right there. >> reporter: uncle obama gets too risque with double entendres about bananas. ♪ >> reporter: not everyone is happy with sister deborah, the performer in the african nation of ghana. garbage. this song makes me uncomfortable. >> you're asking for a ba nana from the american president to give to your monkey. how disrespectful. >> reporter: wait a minute. >> it has nothing to do with the president, no. and nothing to do with politics. >> reporter: sister deborah says obama has become a common name in ghana, ever since president obama took office. and the obama in this song was inspired by a